David Kennedy, acting assistant administrator for NOAA’s National Ocean Service, told members of the House subcommittee on insular affairs, oceans and wildlife that funding to track the spill is running out.

Those tracking assets will be in place until this autumn, he said, adding: “No long-term funding is available to keep them in place after that.”

Kennedy said his agency has had to divert funding from other programs to track the spill and that budget cuts, spotty funding for research and a lack of political will have made it difficult to create a comprehensive strategy for dealing with disasters of this magnitude.

Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va., a member of the panel, asked Kennedy: “I’d be interested if you could tell us with this scenario — understanding a deepwater spill, understanding the effects on the environment — what took a higher priority outside of a spill? . . . What else out there is a bigger risk?”

Kennedy replied: “It’s not like we haven’t been there. But it’s a fact of life. When you don’t have a major event, it’s hard to convince people that it is the most pressing thing.”